Indonesia Miss Transgender crowned in a slap for hard-liners

BINTANGNEWS.com
–Transgender
people and gay activists from across Indonesia have defied a wave of hatred
against sexual minorities to crown a Miss Transgender at a national pageant
held in absolute secrecy.

A handful of
journalists were notified just a few hours in advance of the location of the event,
held in Jakarta, to prevent any attempts by Islamic hard-liners to shut down
the pageant. And because of the risk of discovery and violence, organizers
asked those present not to post anything on social media during the contest.

Qienabh Tappii, a 28-year-old
representing Jakarta who wore a figure-hugging, iridescent metallic gown,
triumphed over more than 30 other contestants Friday night to be crowned Miss
Waria Indonesia 2016. She will represent Indonesia at an international pageant
to be held in Thailand next year. "Waria" is the Indonesian word for
transgender, a term for people whose sense of their gender is different from
their sex at birth.

"I'm very happy,
I feel like I want to cry," said Tappii, standing next to a 2-meter
(6.5-foot) -tall gold and red trophy while cradling a smaller one.

"Tonight is the
beginning of my struggle for my rights as a waria," she said. "I want
waria to be accepted, appreciated and understood in our society, and to be
equal with other Indonesians. I will work really hard to achieve it."

The successful
staging of the pageant was an important morale boost and self-affirmation for a
community that is increasingly under siege.

Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation, is often held up as practicing a moderate
form of Islam. But that reputation for tolerance has been undermined in the
past year as the media and religious and political leaders stoked prejudice
against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, framing them as a threat
to the nation.

It was in part a
backlash against the worldwide advance of LGBT rights, and in particular the
success of the gay marriage movement in the US and the high-profile battles
there over whether transgender people can use the public bathrooms of the
gender they identify with.

Indonesia's
conservatives want to push LGBT people back into the margins of society and
deny them legal rights. It's an agenda that has capitalized on low levels of
awareness in a society where open discussion of sexuality is often frowned
upon. But it also clashes with the traditions of some cultures in ethnically
diverse Indonesia that have for centuries allowed space for different genders
and sexual identities.

"If the public
knew in advance that there will be such an event, those who use religion as
their mask could attack us. That's why we kept it secret until the last
minute," said pageant organizer Nancy Iskandar.

"The radicals
are very arrogant. I'm afraid that it could erupt into physical
confrontation," Iskandar said. "We don't want them to step on us
forever. What's in it for them anyway? We're not doing any harm."

Opposition from
hard-liners prevented the long-running event, which is organized by Putri Waria
Indonesia Foundation and Indonesian Waria Communication Forum, from being held
twice in recent years.

Indonesia's police
often side with or look the other way when Islamic hard-liners attack or
intimidate LGBT groups, religious minorities, women's rights groups and any
cultural events they take exception to.

Fitri Pabentengi, a
member of the Bugis ethic group, which recognizes five genders, said he
traveled from Makassar on Sulawesi island — 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to the
east — for the pageant. In his community he is "bissu," one of the
five genders, which roughly corresponds to androgynous. Bissu are traditionally
priests or shamans.

"I came all the
way from Makassar to show my solidarity," said Pabentengi. "We
Indonesian waria have the same feelings, what they feel in Jakarta we also feel
it in Makassar."

About 200 people
filled the small theater for the finale of the high-energy showcase of
idealized feminine beauty. Thirty-four transgender women vied for the title,
competing over three days, though four dropped out because they feared the
event might be disrupted.

Aside from Miss
Transgender, there were a slew of other titles up for grabs, including most
sexy, most intelligent and most beautiful skin.

"We want to show
that waria can also do positive things," said Miss West Java, Dinda
Syariff.

"People said
that we are the scum of the society — that's so not true," Syariff said.***